U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at Blueprint for Action, preventing Youth Violence in Minneapolis on Friday, May 27, 2011. Holder praised the Minneapolis program to reduce youth violence and pledged support from the Justice Department and plans to bring the program to a national scale. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Glen Stubbe)

Issa calls hearing on Justice Department possibly obstructing justice

California Republican Darrell Issa has called a hearing to look at the possibility that the Department of Justice (DOJ) may be committing obstruction of justice by ignoring a subpoena.

On April 1, Issa, House Oversight Committee chairman, subpoenaed all documents pertaining to two Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) programs, Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious.

Specifically, Issa was looking for documents and communications “relating to the genesis” of the programs and any information related to the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Two AK-47s ATF was tracking through Operation Fast and Furious were found at the scene of Terry’s death.

“The unwillingness of this Administration – most specifically the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms – to answer questions about this deadly serious matter is deeply troubling,” Issa said in a statement on April 1. “Allegations surrounding this program are serious and the ability of the Justice Department to conduct an impartial investigation is in question. Congressional oversight is necessary to get the truth about what is really happening.”

The Obama administration still hasn’t complied with Issa’s requests for documents or his subpoena. Before Attorney General Eric Holder appeared at a Judiciary Committee, DOJ supplied several documents that were already public.

DOJ also allowed Issa’s investigative team to view several heavily redacted documents in DOJ headquarters, but wouldn’t allow his team to take them back to the committee for further inspection.

In an interview with Fox News’ Shannon Bream, Issa said those documents were “so redacted you weren’t sure there was writing underneath.”

Issa announced he’s holding a hearing on June 13 to examine whether DOJ is required to respond to a “lawfully issued and valid Congressional subpoena.”

According to an Oversight Committee release, this hearing will be the first “in a series of hearings on Operation Fast and Furious.”

“This hearing will examine the constitutional questions raised by both the Department of Justice’s refusal to comply with a Congressional subpoena as well as the withholding of documents from a Congressional subpoena,” the Committee’s release said.